With Jamal Murray out of the Denver Nuggets lineup, the team has been carried by the likes of Nikola Jokic who recently received NBA MVP honors. Jokic has been nothing short of dominant and if you've watched Denver throughout the postseason, then you would quickly realize that the team overachieved in the regular season, and it is all thanks to Jokic's efforts.
As it stands, the Nuggets are down 3-0 to the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the playoffs. They lost yet again last night although Jokic had a truly incredible showing. The MVP scored 32 points all while grabbing 20 rebounds and 10 assists. Suns players were mesmerized by his performance, including Deandre Ayton, who seemed shocked by the stat line.
In fact, Ayton noted that Jokic's MVP award was well-deserved and that stats like that are why his team has been able to remain competitive. This is high praise when you consider how Ayton's teammate Chris Paul was one of the other players who was highly considered for the MVP trophy. Some Suns fans even think Paul was robbed although, at this point, it's hard to argue against Jokic's contributions to the team.
Regardless, the Suns look incredible right now and it seems like they are on a collision course to a Western Conference Finals appearance against the Utah Jazz.